Downdraft furnace



. A. R. ATTEBERRY DOWNDRAFT FURNACE Filed June 6. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet lV 'iik-@11. 65,50@ 5f/M ffl@ WZ-inw@ Dec. 18 1923.

A. R. ATTEBERRY DOWNDRAFT FURNACE s sheets-sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1921'Patented Dec.. 18, 1923.

ALVIN R. ATTEBERRY, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

DOWNDRAFT FURNACE.

Application med June e, 192i. serial No. 475,325.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALVIN R. A'rrnBERRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at` Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful Downdraft Furnace, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The invention relates to furnaces for burning coal. The purposes of theinvention are to provide a furnace of simple construc-A tion free fromflat surfaces on which dust and soot may accumulate and interfere withthe draft of the' furnace; to provide a drum of improved constructionand in conjunction therewith to provide a vertical flue of largecapacity extending practicallyT the envtire length of the drum; toprovide interchangeable segments supporting the fire bowl, the liningand the grate in the drum and adapted for use with iron lire-bowl sec-Vtions or ire-bowl sections of fire clay or other refractory material; toprovide firebowl sections of improved construction admitting the flameand hot ases into and through the fire bowl, an upward and downward andall around the outside of the fire-bowl; to provide improved means forcontrolling 11p-draft and down-draft and to provide other details ofconstruction as will hereinafter appear.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a furnace embodying my invention, part0f the casing being sliown as broken away to expose inclosed parts; Fig.2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the interior of thefurnace, showing part of the'drum, part of the grate, part of thelining, the. means for supporting the grate, andvsome of the irebowlsections in place in the drum.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the furnace taken on the line 3--3of Fig. 1.

Fig. L1 is a top plan of one segment of the ring structure supportingthe tire-bowl and the grate. y

Fig. 5 is ay top plan, Fig. 6 an inside view. and Fig. 7 an outside viewof one cast iron fire-bowl section.

Fig. S is a vertical section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is an inside view and Fig. 10 an outside view of one of thespecial cast iron tire-bowl sections used on each side of the shakerwhich operates the grate.

Fig. 11 is a sectional detail of means to facilitate the shaking of thegrate.

Fig. 12is an inside view, Fig. 13 an outside view and Fig. 14 a verticallongitudinal section through one regular fire-clay-bowl section, takenon the line 141-44 of Fig. 12.

Fin'. 15 is an outside View of a special fire-ctlay-bowl section; Fig.16 is a vertical section on the line 16-16 of Fig. 15; and Fig. 17 is anenlarged partial vertical section through the drum, the lining, and onefire-clay fire-bowl section.

The same reference numerals designate the same parts in all the views.

A. circular cast iron base 16 of usual construction, supports the outercasing 17 which is preferably of galvanized steel and is equipped withthe usual cold-air duct and the usual hot air pipes; said duct and pipesl are not part of the present invention and therefore are not shown.

The heat drum 18 and the boot or vertical fiue 19 are preferably ofrolled steel of suitable thickness and are supported on the base 16 asclearly shown in Fig. 1.

l have shown in the drawings a cast iron cover 20 conformed to the upperend of the drum and the boot and connected therewith by bolts 21ext-ending through ears 22 integral with the cover and through brackets23 riveted on the drum; but it is to be understood that the cover may beof pressed steel, the same as the body of the drum, and may be welded orotherwise secured thereon without departure from my invention.

have shown the boot riveted on the drum but it also may bc welded on thedrum.

A cast iron upper door frame Q4 secured on the drum covers a suitableopening in the wall of the drum and extends outwardly through the casingand supports a` fuel door 25 and a draft door 26. The draft door has a.hinged shutter 27 operated by a wire 28, or a chain, extended upwardlyinto a room which is to be heated.

A cast viron lower door frame 29 covers a suitable opening in the drinnand extends outwardly through the casing and supports the ash-pit door30.

A frame 31 covering a suitable opening in the casing supports a door 32giving access to the shaker bar 33.

The shaker bar 33 extends inwardly sie -through the arcuate guard-plate34 and through acorresponding slot 35 (Fig. 2) in the wall of the drum,and through the space 36 (Figs. 2 and 9) at the lowerl ends of the twoadjoining special lire-bowl sections, one on' each side of the shakerbar, and the inner end of the bar enters a socket member 38 integralwith the grate 39.

A cast iron cylindrical lining 40 composed of four equal sections isinterposed between the drum and the tire-bowl sections and protects thedrum from blistering or burning by flame in the space between thefire-howl and the lining.

The fire-bowl comprises a series of regular or ordinary sections 37(Figs. 5-8), and two special sections 37 (Figs. 9 and 10), adjacent toeach other, one on each side of the shaker bar 33. Each section 37 hasat its upper end two outwardly extended lugs 62 adjacent to therespective longitudinal edges of the section, and has at its lower end afiat shoulder 63 extending the full width of the section and anintegral'downwardly and inwardly projected flange (34 extending part ofthe width of the section..

The sections 37*l are right and lett. Each section 37a has at its upperend two outwardly extended lugs G2 and has at its lower end an inwardlyprojected flange 64 adjacent to one longitudinal edge of the section.When the two sections are assembled the shorter longitudinal edges ofthe sections will be in contact with each other and the space 36 betweenthe two lugs 64n will permit free oscillation of the shaker bar 33 inthe space 3G.

F ire bowl and gra-te support.

The tire-bowl and grate support is a circular structure o1 ring C,preferably of cast iron, comprising a plurality of separable quadrants,formed and united as will now be described, and adapted to supportregular and special cast iron fire-bowl sections; and also adapted tosupport tire-bowl sections of tire clay or the like, as will hereinafterappear.

To distinguish the grate-supporting quadrant of said circular structureC from the other quadrants of the same structure,l

the reference letter G will be used to designate the grate-supportingquadrant, and the letter B will be used to designate the other quadrantsof said structure.

` he quadrants are separable in order that they may be introduced orremoved through the lire door opening, to facilitate assembling theparts; and also to facilitate the removing and replacing of a quadrantor quadrants which may be broken or damaged in use, without disturbingthe other quadrants.

The quadrant G comprises a hub 42, a

stud 43, extended upwardly from the hub, radial spokes 44, laterallyextended blocks 45 integral with the spokes, a rim plate 46 of L-shapecross-section, arcuate slots 47 in the horizontal member 48 of the rimplate, holes 49 in the vertical member 50 of the rim plate to receivebolts 5l (Fig. l) connecting the quadrant with the drum 18, and'relatively short slots 66 separating the blocks 45 from the body of therim plate. The quadrants are connected with each other b v bolts 52(Figs. 3 and 17).

The quadrants B are all alike, so a description of one will sutiice forall. Quadrant-s B differ from the quadrant (ir in that they do not havehubs, neither do they have radial spokes; but each quadrant has a rimplate 53, arcuate slots 54 upright lugs 55, lateral blocks 56 and shortslots 57. like the corresponding parts and slots of the quadrant G.

The grate 58 is a circular plate of cast iron, having a central hole 59accommodating the stud 43 around which the grate rotates, and anintegralsocket block 38 in which the inner end of the shaker bar 33engages to shake the grate in the usual manner. The grate has also aseries of perforations 60 through which ashes drop into the ash pit.

' Faraday Sections of the fire-bowl.

I have found by experience that under some conditions of use tire-claybowl sections are preferable to cast-iron-bowl sections, I havetherefore shown and described a ring structure C admitting ofthe use ofeither cast-iron tire-bowl-sections or tire-clay tirebowl sections, asmay be desirable in any particular case; and will now describe thehre-clay firebowl sections shown in Figs. 12. 13, 14, 15 and 1e.

The firc-claybowl sections are of two types namely; general .sections70, and special or right and left sections a. the latter being used onopposite sides ofthe -shaker bar. in the same manner that the specialcast-iron sections 37 are used. Only one section 7 0" is shown.

In order that the tire-clay sections may have ample strength and mayhave mass to conserve heat, they will preferably be twice 'the thicknessof the cast-iron sections.

ring C is designed to support either castiron bowl-sections orfireclay-bowl sections without obstructing the slots 47 or 54, andwithout any change in the ring itself.

Each fire-clay section 70 has outwardly extended lugs 7l. transverseholes 72 and a downwardly projecting flange 73 adapted to enter theshort slots 57 to hold the section so as to permit expansion andcontraction of the sections. vThe lugs 55 on the ring C (Fig. 2) and theflanges 73 on the fire-howl section keep the lower part of the sectionThe r remesa from sliding outwardly over and obstructing the slots 17 ofthe quadrant Gr, or 54 of the quadrants B, as the case may be.

The ange 64, or 64, of each iron section 37, or 37a.' projects inwardlybeyond the inner face of the section and extends downwardly into theshort slots 57 or 66; likewise, the inner face of the flange 478 or 76of each fire-clay section 70, or 70, being in the same plane with theinner face of'the section, extends downwardly into the r same slots 57or 66, notwithstanding the difference in the thickness of the sections.This adaptability of the ring C to all the firebowl sections 37, 37a;and 70, 70, is a fea- I ture of prime importance.

A smoke box 8O permanently attached to the boot 19, communicates withthe interior of the drum 18 through the opening 8l (Fig. 3) and has anoutlet pipe 82 admitting smoke and gases to the chimney flue.

A damper plate 83 is fixed on an oscillative rod 84. which extendsthrough the smoke box. When raised the plate 83 covers the opening 81 sothat the smoke and gases will pass downwardly around the fire-bowlsections and through the grate 'and the ring structure C into the ashpit 78, thence through the opening 77 into the boot 19, and upwardlythrough the boot and the outlet 82 to the chimney flue. An arm 85 isintegral with the rod 84.

A bar 86 is pivoted on one of the brackets 23. A lever 87 is pivoted onthe bar 86 as shown at 88. A link 89 connects the lower end of thellever 87 with the upper end of the arm 85. A rod 90 is connected Withthe upper end of the lever 87 and extends outwardly through the casing17. Upon pulling the .rod 90 outwardly the lever 87 will operate thedamper plate 83 -to uncover the opening 81 for direct draft; andreversely, pushing the rod inwardly will operate the damper plate forindirect or down-draft.

A plate 91 detachably connected with the smoke box covers an opening 92in one side of the smoke box, affording access to the interior of thesmoke box whenever necessary to change or replace the rod 84 or thedamper plate 83.

The shaker bar 83 extends inwardly through the guard'plate 34, and theplate travels on rollers (Fig. 11) to facilitate the shaking of thegrate.

Operation.

Upon starting the fire, the shutter 27 will be raised to admit air tothe drum and the rod 90 will be pulled outwardly to operate the damperplate 83 for direct draft. When the re has a good start and there is abed of live coals in the fire pot` the rod 90 will be pushed inwardly toeffect the change from direct draft to indirect or down-draft,

`and all around the lire pot ash pit, and upwardly `through the boot andand the shutter 27 will be partially or wholly closed to controlcombustion as desired. The draft will then be downwardly through andthrough the the smoke box to the chimney flue; thus assuring prolongedeven heating, and complete combustion and consequent economy of fuel.

I do not restrict the y,invention to the preciseA details shown andldescribed but wish t0 include other and different details fairly withinthe scope of the claims.

Having fully described my invention what claim as new and desire tosecure by Ivetters Patent is: 1. A rin -structure for furnaces comprismgsepara le sections, cach section having an outer rim, an inner rim,arcuate slots between said rims, and relatively short slots adjacent tothe inner rim; in combination with a drum supporting saidring-structure; a lining supported on the outer rim of thering-structure; and fire-bowl sections supported on the inner rim of thering-structure and engaged in the relatively short slots thereof toprevent said fire-bowl sections from obstructing thearcuate slots ofsaid ring-structure.

2. In a. furnace, in combination with a casing; a circular drum in thecasing; a ring structure supported in the drum and comprising aplurality o f sections each having arcuate slots, and relatively shortslots spaced inwardly apart from said arcuate slots; a circular liningsupported on the outer circular rim of the ring-structure; and acircular series of fire-howl sections, each having at its upper endoutwardly projected members bearing on said lining to space thefire-bowl sections apart from the lining, and having at its lower end amember engaging in the relatively short slots of said ring-structure, tohold the lower part of the fire-bowl section clear of the correspondingarcuate slot of the ring-structure.

3. In a furnace, the combination of a casing; a cylindrical drum insidethe casing; a ring-structure detachably connected with the casing andcomprising a grate-supporting section having an arcuate rim, radialarms, arcuate slots in the rim of said section, and relatively shortslots adjacent to the spokes, a hub uniting the spokes, and an upwardlyextended stud on said hub; complemental ring-sections each having a rimhaving arcuate slots, radial members having lateral bloc-ks, andrelatively short slots between said lateral blocks and said rim; acylindrical lining comprising separable sections supported on saidring-structure between the arcuate slots and the relatively short slotsof the ring-structure; removable perforated 'fire-bowl sections eachhaving at its uppenienditwardly extended lugs bearthe stud of the gratesupporting section oi 10 ing on said lining to maintain open space bethering-structure.

tween the fire-bowl section and the lining, in communication with thearcuate slots of the ring-structure, also having at its lower end amember engaging in the relatively short slots of the ring-structure, vtoprevent outward movement of the fire-bowl sections on thering-Structure; and a grate rotative on In Witness whereof I havehereunto signed my name at Springfield, Illinois, this first day ofJune,

VIN R. ATTEBERRY.

Witnesses

